Apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid for connection into a fuel inlet stream of an internal combustion engine, in which the fluid is contained within a bottle having a gas inlet and outlet in its gas-tight cover. The inlet gas is controllable in amount and is released by an aerator beneath the surface of the contained fluid to produce a plurality of fine streams of small bubbles, which escape the surface of the fluid carrying with them a mist of the fluid entrained in the gas above the fluid. The gas and the entrained mist is exhausted through the output and injected into the fuel stream of the internal combustion engine.

United States Patent 1 Mills 1 Oct. 23, 1973 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AMIST OF A FLUID [76] Inventor: Hadli lilyiills, Borg 14336, Albu- [52]US. Cl. 261/18 A, 261/122, 123/25 R [51] Int. Cl. F02m 25/02 [58] Fieldof Search 123/25 R, 1 A;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,391,899 9/1921 Lynch261/18 A 1,595,626 8/1926 Gunther et a1.. 261/18 A 1,755,056 4/1930DeWeese 123/25 R 1,912,439 6/1933 Feller 261/122 2,073,887 3/1937Strancke.. 261/18 A 2,207,689 7/1940 Baker 261/122 2,341,246 2/1944Stowe 261/124 3.066923 1 2/1962 Boteler 261/124 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 396,732 8/1933 Great Britain 261/122 1,009,829 3/1952France 261/122 Primary Examiner-Tim R. Miles Attorney-Richard A. Bachand[57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid for connectioninto a fuel inlet stream of an internal combustion engine, in which thefluid is contained within a bottle having a gas inlet and outlet in itsgas-tight cover. The inlet gas is controllable in amount and is releasedby an aerator beneath the surface of the contained fluid to produce aplurality of fine streams of small bubbles, which escape the surface ofthe fluid carrying with them a mist of the fluid entrained in the gasabove the fluid. The gas and the entrained mist is exhausted through theoutput and injected into the fuel stream of the internal combustionengine.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 23, 1973 3,767,172

2 Sheets-Sheet APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A MIST OF A FLUID BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to animproved mist producing apparatus, and more particularly to an improvedapparatus for producing a controllable and automatically adjusted amountof a mist of a desired fluid forinsertion into the fuel stream of aninternal conbustion engine.

2. Description of the Prior Art Only a few different types of vapor ormist producing devices or apparatuses have been proposed heretofore.Many such devices, although designed to accomplish purposes similar tothat of the invention, include numerous moving parts. This isundesirable, especially in operation in conjunction with internalconbustion engines since temperature extremes are frequentlyencountered, adversely affecting their operation. This may result in adifferent volume of mist produced at each different temperature, and mayrequire continuous adjustment, which would be burdensome, at best,requiring one to adjust the apparatus, for instance, upon starting theengine, periodically as it warms up, when it is at normal operatingtemperature, and during 1 periods of variation from the normal operatingtemperature encountered with varying loads upon the engine.Additionally, of course, moving parts are generally sources of troubleand require higher maintenance than, for example, devices not havingmoving parts.

In general, in the devices heretofore proposed, engine performance,economy performance and the amount of air pollution produced were not ofprimary concern; consequently, although such devices did have somebeneficial effect in this regard, the results achieved are not optimizedto any appreciable degree. These factors today are of major concern andit is to these ends that the present invention is directed.

One mist producing device advanced teaches an apparatus for leading agas to a point below the surface of a body of a liquid and liberating itthere to allow it to buble through the liquid, and to form a mistremoved at an outlet connected to the intake passage of an automobile.Neither in this nor any other apparatuses proposed is any provision madefor controlling the quantity of input gas, a critical feature essentialfor beneficial operation in connection with internal combustion engines.Additionally, although many of the apparatuses advancedbubble a gasthrough a fluid to obtain a humidified gas, few recognize the importanceof the relatively small sized bubbles required to produce a mist orvapor which may benefit the performance of the engine, and nonerecognized the importance of controlling the gas input in combinationwith obtaining the desired mist quantity with the fine gas bubbles. Thedevices heretofore proposed, for example, merely produce large gasbubbles within the fluid, which, because of their size, will not producesufficient mist to be useful in the applications here underconsideration.

Another factor of consideration is the quantity of mist entrained in thegas to be injected in the fuel stream. The apparatuses previouslyproposed had no single adjustment, which, when set, would allow the mistoutput to be that required regardless of the engine speed or operatingcondition, without some externally applied adjustment force, forexample, a needle valve moved in response to a carburetor setting. Notonly would such moving valve suffer the problems inherent in movingparts, discussed above, it also would not react instantly to whatevercondition to which it was designed to respond.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In light of the above, it istherefore, an object of the invention to present a mist producingapparatus having a controllable gas input to present a desired amount ofmist for injection into the combustion chambers, re-

gardless of the speed of the engine.

It is a further object of the invention to present a mist producingapparatus, having a controllable gas input, which may be connected toinject the mist into the combustion chambers to increase the efficiency,enhance the performance, and reduce the pollution emissions of theengine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a mist producingapparatus which, by adjustment of the quantity of an inlet gas toproduce many fine bubbles, produces sufficient mist entrained in theinput gas to be beneficial to the operation of internal combustionengines.

These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following description, appendedclaims, and accompanying drawing. I

The invention, in its broad aspect, is intended for connection into afuel inlet stream of an internal combustion engine, and includes acontainer for the fluid the mist of which is to injected into the fuelstream at an appropriate engine input connection. An input means isprovided for conducting a gas into the fluid within the container tobubble through it to form above its surface amist of the fluid entrainedin the gas. An output means is also provided for conducting the gas andthe mist entrained in it into the fuel stream. Carrying both the inputand output means is a means for providing a gas seal upon the container.The sealing means may fit upon the container, and allow gas to enter andexit oly through the input and output means. Finally, a means foradjustably controlling the gas flow into the container, coacting withthe input means to partially block the fuel flow through it is provided,thus enabling a precise variable desired mist to be produced,proportional to the speed of the engine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A preferred embodiment of the inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the invention, in crosssection, taken along 22in FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the aerator assembly in accordance with theinvention.

And FIG. 4 is a front view, cross-section of the aerator assembly, takenalong 4'4 in FIG. 3.

It is understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, asdimensions of certain parts as shown in the drawings have been modifiedor exaggerated for the purpose of clarity of illustration and ease ofdescription.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings, and in particular to FIG. 2, the humidifier apparatus of theinvention, generally denoted by the reference numeral 10, includes abottle or container 11, of any heat resistant material, and mayconveniently be of glass, as such bottles are widely and commerciallyavailable. The bottle 11 may have screw threads or the like at itsopening to allow a cover to be easily attached thereto. Since the bottle11 will carry the fluid, which will be injected into the enginemanifold, it should be of appropriate size to carry sufficient fluid toprovide an adequate supply for desired distance before refilling. It hasbeen found, for instance, that a four quart jar will contain enoughfluid to last between approximately 3,000 to 4,000 miles, depending, ofcourse, upon the number of cylinders, the length of the cylinder stroke,the speed and manner at which the engine is operated, and other suchconsiderations.

Fitting into and within the bottle 11 is an aerator assembly 12,including a cap or cover portion 13, which may be formed from a widevariety of materials, preferably of molded plastic or other suchyieldable material. Humidifier devices in the prior art frequentlyspecify caps or covers for the container of metal, and generally specifythat the metal be yieldable so as not to cause the jar to break whensubjected to an interior vacuum. It has been found that plastic is ofsufficient pliability to yield when subjected to high vacuums to preventthe container 11 from bursting, but also provides mechanical support forfixed adjustment means for the gas intake, a feature representing one ofthe major aspects of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cover 13 has three holes formedtherethrough to provide a fill inlet 14, a gas inlet 15, and a mistoutlet 16. The fill inlet hole 14 may include a cylindrical extension 17extending upwardly from the cover 13 to receive a plug 18 to provide agastight seal within the hole 14. Likewise, a cylindrical extension 19may be provided on the mist outlet hole 16 to allow an output tube 20 tobe connected thereto. Finally, cylindrical extensions 21 and 22 areprovided above and below the gas inlet hole 15, respectively, to allowan inlet gas adjustment to be made and to accommodate a gas conduit tothe aerator described below. Additionally provided on cover 13 are braceor support members 23, 24, 25, and 26. These brace members may beincluded as a part of the cover mold, and provide support and a certaindegree of rigidity for the overall surface of the cap 13. The braces 23through 26 should not, however, be of such dimensions as to render cap13 incapable of any bending movement whatever, but may allow a limiteddegree of deformity to be exhibited when the interior of bottle 11 isevacuated and subjected to relatively high vacuums of, for example, 60psi. Under the top portion of cap 13 is provided a wedge shaped ring 27which bears upon the upper edge or lip of the bottle 11 to effectuate agas seal to the interior of bottle 11. Althouth the wedge ring 27 isillustrated as being wedge or V-shape, it may be of any easily moldableshape, so long as it is of uniform depth to bear equally upon all edgesof the top of bottle 11 when the cap 13 is in its screwed down positionillustrated.

The gas inlet hole 15 includes a lateral hole 28 drilled through a wallof the upwardly projecting cylinder 21 into its interior. Also extendingdownwardly into the cylinder 21 is an adjustment screw 29 (see FIG. 2)of length sufficient to have adjustment across the gas inlet hole 28.The adjustment screw 29 may have a needle point adjustment 30 to allow agreater range of adjustment. The diameter of the lateral hole 28 is notcritical since the adjustment screw 29 is provided, but it has beenfound that for the best range of adjustment the diameter of the hole 28be approximately eight times less than the diameter of the gas inlethole 15. The diameter of the adjustment screw 29 should be slightlygreater than the diameter of hole 15, and should be of sufficienttightness to provide a seal at the interface of hole 15 and the screwthreads of the adjustment screw and additionally constrain the screw inthe adjusted position throughout the vibration and jolts which areordinarily encountered in the operation of the engine on which thehumidifier is installed.

The screw 29 may be easily inserted into the extension 21 of the plasticcap 13, but on the other hand, the extension 21 of the plastic cap 13exerts sufficient lateral pressure upon the screw 29 to maintain itsadjustment position regardless of the temperature, jolts, vibrations andother operating conditions to which it may be exposed. Although a needlevalue and seat assembly (not shown) may be used in place of the screw 29and inlet hold 28 combination, such needle value and seat assembly maybe adversely affected by the temperature ranges encountered.

Interfitting with cylindrical extension 22 is a tube 31 which conductsthe gas from gas inlet 28 to the aerator member 32. The conducting tubemay be of any material such as plastic, glass, stainless steel, copper,or the like, but is preferably of stainless steel or other very rigidmaterial which will not deform when subjected to pressure from the cap13 or which will be bent by heat from the engine to which the unit isattached.

The aerator member 32, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, may be made of plastic orthe like, and conveniently may be of the same material that the cap 13is made of and may be likewise injection molded, cast or otherwise suchsimilarly formed. The member 32 is disposed upon an interior surface ofthe container 11, preferrably upon the base or bottom, as illustrated.The member 32 is shaped to define a portion of a chamber 37 with thebase of the container defining a closing portion of the chamber 37 (seeFIG. 2). Formed through the member 32 are a number of holes 33 and 34.Holes 33, on an inside radius, may, for example, be of diameter of 0.25inches, and holes 34 on an outside radius may be of a diameter of 0.050inches to allow the gas within chamber 37 to escape therefrom in narrowstreams of fine bubbles. Additionally provided upon member 32 is acylindrical extension 35, to receive conducting tube 31. Extension 35should be of such diameter as to affect a gas seal between conductingtube 31 and the interior face of the extension 35. Concentric with theextension 35 is a hole 36 formed through the member 11 to allow gasconducted through conducting tube 31 to flow into the interior chamber37 of the foot 32.

A plurality of cylindrical feet 38 are strategically located within theinterior 37 of foot 32 to provide support for the aerator member 32. Thecylindrical feet are particularly important since, as described abovethe bottom of the bottle 11 in conjunction with the foot 32 of theaerator effectuates a closed chamber to force the gas conducted throughconducting tube 31 into the chamber 37 to be allowed to exit therefromonly through holes 33 and 34. Thus, as the cap 13 is screwed.

onto the bottle 11 causing a downward force upon conducting tube 31, theaerator member 32 is not thereby crushed to allow deformities to existaround the periphery of member 32 which might allow large bubbles of theentrained gas to escape therefrom. To additionally effect the sealbetween aerator member 32 and the floor of bottle 11, the periphery ofmember 32 may be formed with a slight taper 39 which tightly interfitsupon the floor of the bottle 11.

The entire assembly may be received by a securing device 50 (see FIG. 2)formed of'a rigid, forming fitting plastic or metal casing withappropriate attachments for securing the invention to a structureassociated with the engine on which the device is installed. Forexample, the devise may be affixed by securing device 50 to the firewallof an automobile, or, may be attached to a wall of the trunk of anautomobile.

In operation, a fluid (not shown) is poured into the bottle 11 throughfill hole 14. The output line 20 is connected to a point between theoutput of the carburetor and the input to the cylinders. Conveniently,such connection may be made in the PCV line on recent model cars, or, onolder cars, directly into the intake manifold. Either connection willcause a vacuum to be pulled which will be transmitted by output line 20to the interior of bottle 11 above the fluid contained therein. Theunequal pressure sealed within the bottle by the cap 13 and theappropriate sealing devices incorporated thereon, described above indetail, will tend to be overcome by the device sucking air into theintake hold 28 through conducting tube 31 to be expelled through holes33 and 34 in-aerator member 32. The air thus drawn into the device andexpelled through holes 33 and 34 will rise in narrow streams of the finebubbles to the surface of the fluid, at which point they burst andescape the fluid, causing the surface tension of the fluid to be brokenand additionally expelling a portion of the contained fluid into thevacuum maintained above the fluid. The mist or vapor thus produced willthen be sucked into the engine through output tube 20 to the point atwhich the input connection is established.

It can be seen, therefore, that the adjustment on ad justing screw 29 iscritical in obtaining the proper proportion of mist or vapor which isordinarily maintained above the surface of the fluid and which istransmitted to the intake of the car. The appropriate adjustment shouldbe such as to allow air bubbles to escape from the holes 33 and 34 uponidling of the car to be such that the bubbles do not escape from alleight holes shown all the time, but at which it does escape at someperiodic time from all eight holes. If too many bubbles are permitted toescape, for a particular engine operating condition, the overall effectwill be to defeat the quantity of mist produced, an effect similar toallowing hand, if an insufficient amount of mist is formed, the quantityof bubbles escaping the holes 33 and 34 will be markedly reduced and thespace above the fluid will be clear if the output line 20 isdisconnected. The proper adjustment, therefore, is between thepoint atwhich the bubbles occur at most of the holes in member 32 and atwhichlarge bubbles begin to flow. At the proper adjustment, when the outputline 20 is discon nected, a cloud will immediately appear above thefluid, indicating a large quantity of the fluid entrained in the gas.

it will be noted that no particular clamps or devices are necessary tokeep the fill cap 18 and the vacuum tube 20 in their desired positionssince the vacuum in the bottle 11 will be sufficient to pull thereuponto maintain their positions.

Although many fluids may be used in conjunction with the humidifier ofthe engine, it has been found that with automobile engines, andparticularly those of the high compression engines becoming more widelyavailable, that a mixture of about 2.5 parts of water and 1 part methylalcohol is particularly beneficial in the operation of the car. Sincethe high compression engines tend to operate at higher temperatures, thealcohol has a cooling effect which will allow the ignition timing to beadvanced without the ordinarily encountered preignition problemsassociated with such an advance. The water, on the other hand, provideshumidity to the interior of the cylinder during combustion and hasparticularly beneficial effects upon the engines performance, especiallyin higher altitutes and locations at which the outside humidity isnormally low.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certaindegree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure ismade by way of example and that numerous changes in the details ofconstruction and the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid for connection into afuel inlet stream of an internal combustion engine comprising:

a container for receiving the fluid;

a cover for said container to provide a gas seal to the interior of saidcontainer, said cover having three holes therethrough to define a fillhole, an inlet hole, and an outlet hole,

a cylindrical extension coaxially disposed upon said inlet holeextending outwardly from said container and having a lateral hole ofdiameter approxi mately one-eighth the diameter of the inlet hole,

a screw disposed in said cylindrical extension adjustable to partiallyobstruct the passage defined by the lateral hole,

an aerator member defining with the floor of said container a gaschamber, said aerator member having an input part and a plurality ofexhaust holes therethrough to produce a plurality of fine streams ofsmall bubbles in the fluid in said container,

a plurality of support members affixed to said aerator member extendingbetween the said aerator member and the floor of said container tomaintain the shape of said aerator member and to preserve the integrityof the gas seal at the interface of said aerator member and the floor ofsaid container,

a tube interconnecting the inlet hole on said cover and the input partin said aerator member, said tube being of length to exert pressurebetween said cover and said aerator member to maintain the position ofsaid aerator member upon the floor of said container,

whereby when a vacuum is pulled on the output hole by the vacuum of thefuel stream of the engine to which the apparatus is connected, the gassurrounding the apparatus is sucked into the lateral hole, andadjustable in quantity by adjustment of said screw, and is conductedthrough the tube into the gas chamber, there to escape through the holesin the aerator member to bubble through the liquid and form a mist ofthe fluid above its surface within the container and be exhaustedthrough the output hole into the fuel stream.

2. Apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid for connection into a fuelinlet stream of an internal combustion engine comprising: (a) acontainer for receiving the fluid; (b) a screw-type gas-tight cover forsaid container having therethrough at least a gas inlet hole and a mistoutlet hole; (c) an inverted cup-shaped aerator disposed with itsperiphery contiguous with the bottom of the container; said aeratorhaving an input hole passing centrally therethrough and having aplurality of exhaust holes of predetermined size passing therethroughspaced radially outward of said input hole; ((1) a gas conducting tubeoperatively interconnecting said gas inlet hole in said cover with saidinput hole in said aerator and adapted to be longitudinally compressedwhen said cover is screwed on to said container; (e) means foradjustably controlling the gas flow into said container through said gasinlet hole, whereby a controllable amount of gas may be conducted intothe aerator when the mist outlet hole is is connected to the fuel inletstream of the engine, to produce a plurality of fine streams of smallbubbles in the fluid which form a mist of the fluid above its surface;and (f) a plurality of cylindrical feet affixed to the undersurface ofsaid aerator at spaced intervals and extending adjacent the bottom ofthe container, whereby said aerator is prevented from deforming at theinterface between the periphery thereof and the bottom of the containerwhen downward pressure is exerted by said gas conducting tube upon saidaerator.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said aerator is made of plasticdownwardly yieldable under pressure and additionally wherein theperiphery of said aerator is tapered so that the outer edge liesslightly below the inner edge thereof, whereby, upon exertion ofdownward force by said gas conducting tube on said aerator, theperiphery thereof will interfit tightly upon the bottom of thecontainer.

1. An apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid for connection into afuel inlet stream of an internal combustion engine comprising: acontainer for receiving the fluid; a cover for said container to providea gas seal to the interior of said container, said cover having threeholes therethrough to define a fill hole, an inlet hole, and an outlethole, a cylindrical extension coaxially disposed upon said inlet holeextending outwardly from said container and having a lateral hole ofdiameter approximately one-eighth the diameter of the inlet hole, ascrew disposed in said cylindrical extension adjustable to partiallyobstruct the passage defined by the lateral hole, an aerator memberdefining with the floor of said container a gas chamber, said aeratormember having an input part and a plurality of exhaust holestherethrough to produce a plurality of fine streams of small bubbles inthe fluid in said container, a plurality of support members affixed tosaid aerator member extending between the said aerator member and thefloor of said container to maintain the shape of said aerator member andto preserve the integrity of the gas seal at the interface of saidaerator member and the floor of said container, a tube interconnectingthe inlet hole on said cover and the input part in said aerator member,said tube being of length to exert pressure between said cover and saidaerator member to maintain the position of said aerator member upon thefloor of said container, whereby when a vacuum is pulled on the outputhole by the vacuum of the fuel stream of the engine to which theapparatus is connected, the gas surrounding the apparatus is sucked intothe lateral hole, and adjustable in quantity by adjustment of saidscrew, and is conducted through the tube into the gas chamber, there toescape through the holes in the aerator member to bubble through theliquid and form a mist of the fluid above its surface within thecontainer and be exhausted through the output hole into the fuel stream.2. Apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid for connection into a fuelinlet stream of an internal combustion engine comprising: (a) acontainer for receiving the fluid; (b) a screw-type gas-tight cover forsaid container having therethrough at least a gas inlet hole and a mistoutlet hole; (c) an inverted cup-shaped aerator disposed with itsperiphery contiguous with the bottom of the container; said aeratorhaving an input hole passing centrally therethrough and having aplurality of exhaust holes of predetermined size passing therethroughspaced radially outward of said input hole; (d) a gas conducting tubeoperatively interconnecting said gas inlet hole in said cover with saidinput hole in said aerator and adapted to be longitudinally compressedwhen said cover is screwed on to said container; (e) means foradjustably controlling the gas flow into said container through said gasinlet hole, whereby a controllable amount of gas may be conducted intothe aerator when the mist outlet hole is is connected to the fuel inletstream of the engine, to produce a plurality of fine streams of smallbubbles in the fluid which form a mist of the fluid above its surface;and (f) a plurality of cylindrical feet affixed to the undersurface ofsaid aerator at spaced intervals and extending adjacent the bottom ofthe container, whereby said aerator is prevented from deforming at theinterface between the periphery thereof and the bottom of the containerwhen downward pressure is exerted by said gas conducting tube upon saidaerator.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said aeratoR is made ofplastic downwardly yieldable under pressure and additionally wherein theperiphery of said aerator is tapered so that the outer edge liesslightly below the inner edge thereof, whereby, upon exertion ofdownward force by said gas conducting tube on said aerator, theperiphery thereof will interfit tightly upon the bottom of thecontainer.